2020 GT500 Quick Drive Review: Return of the King
Driving the new GT500 on canyon roads, highways, and city streets reveals a Mustang ready to rule, well, everywhere.
Hey, Folks. My name’s Michael. I’m a writer-editor for The Mustang Source‘s parent company, but I usually work over at our sister site, Mustang Forums. I recently joined Ford for a media drive in Los Angeles where I was beyond-lucky to get seat time in a 2020 Shelby GT500.
You can read the longer first-drive reactions over here where I posted even more original pictures of our Rapid Red tester, but I wanted to make sure The Mustang Source had a chance to check out a quicker version.
Our Loaner GT500
As tested our Rapid Red GT500 included the Technology Package, Recaro Seats, a car cover, and Bright White vinyl striping. Based on Ford’s website, it would MSRP for $80,755 (plus taxes and fees).
I’ve yet to drive the “Carbon Fiber Track Pack,” which costs $18,500, and includes extra aero, an oil catch can, a bigger wing, and exposed carbon fiber wheels wrapped in Michelin Sport Cup 2 rubber. For what it’s worth, everyone who’s driven the CFTP says it’s even better than what I’m about to describe.
That said, the base model GT500 still manages to be one of the most capable Mustangs to ever prowl pavement. Because you’re still getting a supercharged 760 hp 5.2L Predator engine, a Tremec 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, coolers for key driveline components, a composite carbon fiber driveshaft, a Torsen differential with 3.73 rear gears, a premium interior, and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 305/30 and 315/30 20-inch tires.
It’s a beast right out of the box.
What We Love
For those who haven’t watched Matt Farah’s The Smoking Tire One Take videos, do yourself a favor and Google the “Angeles Crest Highway” or “canyons around Los Angeles.” While you’ll find is a series of quiet, twisty mountain roads with epic vistas and some of the best driver’s roads in the western United States. Depending on your route, there’s not always room for much high-end speed, but it’s the perfect place to play in a sports car.
Soaring down mountain roads in a 2020 Shelby GT500 is a transportive experience. Speed and torque are instant and addicting. My co-pilot and I simply scream with glee as we rip well beyond the speed limit—being careful for bikers and other cars, of course—before hauling the two-ton pony back down to safer speeds at each turn.
With grippy Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, massive six- and four-piston Brembo brakes, and well-bolstered Recaro seats, the GT500 slows and stops and turns without ever feeling challenged. As much as I love the Shelby GT350, this experience is much more like being in a supercar.
The new Tremec DCT is also impossibly fast (sorry, 10R80). It clicks off manual shifts in a quicker time than it takes to remove one’s finger from the paddle. I love rowing gears, but this is next level and allows me to focus on the drive — my speed and braking and cornering.
Then there’s the exhaust note, which is unearthly and wonderful. It burbles when idling and, in Track mode, absolutely screams. It’s different than the Voodoo and various Coyotes, naturally, but intoxicating nonetheless.
Flipping through Magneride settings, the GT500 handles with confident agility in Track mode, but you feel every crack in the road. Sport mode is a fantastic all-around setting, where you either carve canyons and cruise highways. (I suspect a lot of GT500 owners will drive in Sport and open the exhaust to Track.) Normal Mode is super smooth — perfect for highway driving or stop-n-go traffic. So smooth, in fact, it’s easy to unknowingly break the speed limit with an empty lane in front of you. And you can still chirp the tires between stop lights.
In summary, we love almost everything about the new GT500. It’s, quite possibly, the best Mustang ever made. At the very least, it’s the most capable. Which, is crazy because it’s the first GT500 that’s both ultra-fast and handles so well.
